Mirror's Edge:Shards
by Arkbird
Summary: Basically a retelling of Mirror's Edge with one of my characters inserted. Some events have been changed, and some added. Please comment!
1. Chapter 1

"I hate this goddamn city." Asa thought as he walked down one of the city's many streets. He hated the color of the city, white. Everything was white, from the tallest skyscraper to the smallest store. Even the grass and the trees that lined the street were white. Ocasionally there was some orange thrown in, mostly at the top of buildings, and on billboards. He hated the people, blissfully ignorant of the choking control they where all under. But most of all, he hated what the city stood for. It was the shining jewel of the country. Low crime, clear streets, near total employment, and a surveillance camera on every corner. The city was under the control of the totalitarian government. The only way to communicate without anyone knowing was to hire a Runner, like Asa. A Runner would deliver messages, information and packages back and forth between customers via rooftops and skyways. It was a tough life, with death always looming around the next corner. But what other choice did he have? His parents where killed when he was seven while they were protesting, peacefully, against the government. He lived on the street for close to eight years, eventually becoming a runner.

He had stared death in the face more than once, almost falling 50 stories more than once. He was also the youngest runner he knew, which made it hard to get high paying jobs. Mostly the clients he got were small time money launderers, drug dealers, and black market dealers. He sighed, and swiped his ID card through the lock on his apartment. It was a small, two roomed place, just a kitchen and bedroom. But it was all he needed, as he barely spent any time there anyway. He laid down on his and was about to fall asleep when his cell phone rang. Normally he avoided using the thing as much as possible, for fear that the police would discover him. He picked it up, and read the text message. It was a message from Faith, another runner. The message contained seemingly random computer characters. It was the Runner's code, a top secret language that they could communicate with. They almost never used it though, so the police couldn't crack it. The message read" Ææ529ÌŒLŽd", which basically meant, "Meet at location, urgent." The "location" .the message referred to was an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city, beyond the interest of the authorities. He stiffened when he read it, because the only other time he had been then was when one of the head runners was killed by the police. He rushed to put on his running shoes. They had a split toe, which allowed for greater maneuverability. And at 35 stories up, Asa took every advantage he could get.

He ran out of his room toward the elevator, not even bothering to lock the door. He frantically started pushing the call button, while muttering "Come on, come on, come on," under his breath. He hated elevators. They were too small, too slow, and almost always had someone else in them. Normally, he would have taken the stairs, but he needed to conserve his energy. The warehouse was far, almost seven miles from his apartment building. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the elevator doors slowly parted, revealing a mercifully empty elevator. Asa punched the highest level, 30, and the elevator began its slow ascent. Asa did what stretches he could in the tight space, and readied himself for the challenge that was facing him. When the car finally slid to a stop, Asa sprinted up two flights of service stairs that lead to the roof. When he emerged on the roof, he saw that the sun was already beginning its slow descent. He needed to hurry, as it was almost impossible to run in the dark. He walked over the east side of the building, and surveyed the first jump. Fifteen feet, not a problem. He jogged a few feet back, then turned and ran headlong toward the edge. When he reached it, he pushed off hard, propelling himself across the gap, and hit the ground running. He raced toward the next gap, not bothering to look as he flew through the void. He kept running, jumping, letting his body take over. He loved the way the wind tossed his long brown hair. He continued for another hour, until he reached the edge of the city. The gap between buildings was nearly twenty feet, with a ten foot drop. But Asa didn't even slow down. He jumped, easily clearing the gap, and rolled with he hit the ground, losing almost no momentum. He could see the warehouse now, and the group of people gathered on its roof. Damn it, he though, late again. He was always the one last to arrive. He pumped his legs harder, clearing the last gap and landing on the warehouse's fire escape. He ran up the rusting stairs, and sprinted toward the group of people.

Faith tapped her foot impatiently. He should have been here twenty minutes ago, she thought, If he's late again, I'm gong to break both his legs. Of course, she would never actually hurt him, but she would always pick on him. Asa and Faith had a strange relationship. Faith was about seven years older than Asa, and he was like the little brother Faith never had, and as such she would tease him mercilessly. But she would never hurt him, and she certainly would never let anyone else hurt him. Many people learned the hard way that just because Faith was making fun of him, doesn't mean they could. Faith was about to rejoin the others, who were already discussing the reason they were all here, when she heard an impact on the rusting fire escape. She turned and saw him sprinting toward them. She cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted "Hurry your ass up!!" She smiled when she saw him run even faster. He slowed to a halt in front of her, and gave a "sorry" in between catching his breath. "I'll give you something to be sorry about," Faith growled, "now come on, we have things to do." She lead him over to the other runners, who had stopped their conversation. She watched his brown eyes skip over every face, and then relax as he recognized them. There was another female runner named Celeste, whose platinum blond hair was always tied back in a pony tail. Her icy blue eyes pierced through Asa as if she was staring into his soul. There was a man next to her, staring at Asa, his dull grey eyes filled with amusement. He had his massive arms folded across his broad chest. This was Mercury, the mission controller for the runners. Merc would listen in on police frequencies and alert them to their movements. Beside him was Trace, a tall and lean black man. Asa hadn't seen much of him before, but he always seemed to be lost in a daydream. "Now that everyone's here," Faith said, "we can get down to business. I've been informed by Mercury that the police have been reorganizing. ". "Anyway," Faith went on "he's informed me that the police are going to start going after runners. They'll be keeping special attention on all our communications. From now on, make sure all your phones are off. Get in contact with your clients, and tell them they might be at risk as well. We should all leave now, I have no idea how long it will be before the police start looking for us." Everyone began to say their goodbyes, and make their way home. It was dark now, so everyone had to either walk or take a bus. Faith grabbed Asa before he could take off, and pulled him to the side. "If anything happens, you know you can always come see me, right? It doesn't matter what time of day it is." Asa nodded and began to walk away. But before he could, Faith caught him in a tight hug, and whispered "Be careful, mijo." in his ear. He smiled, and whispered back "I will." Faith released him, and he took off running. Faith couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to him, which made Mercury's news all the more worrying. But there's no point in worrying about the future, only planning for it, she thought. But still, the voice in her head persisted, even the best laid plans. Faith tried to shush the little doubt, and started to make her way home.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Asa awoke to the electronic wailing of his alarm clock. He looked through hazy eyes at the illuminated display. 5:10 a.m. Shit, he though, literally rolling out of bed. He stretched long and hard, all the while fighting the temptation to crawl back in to the warm, comfy bed. He dragged himself in to the bathroom and started to run the shower. He probably could have gotten by without one, but he hated the feeling of his hair being oily in the morning. He got out of the shower and looked at himself in the mirror. He was scrawny by any definition, with almost no fat on his body, and only lean muscle. At 15 years old, he weighed only about 120 pounds. He was also fairly short, just barely making it to 5' 2". He brushed his teeth and went to get dressed. He threw on a T-shirt and some pants. He walked, still half asleep, into the kitchen to eat. Breakfast was simple; a piece of toast and orange juice. After he ate, he put on his running shoes and did some stretches. He ran out into the hall and up the stairs. He ascended them with startling speed, ascending them three at a time.

By the time he reached the roof, his heart was pumping. The city was illuminated with the predawn light. It was just light enough to run, but still dark enough to the point where he wouldn't be noticed. Asa started of toward his client, a black-market arms dealer called Aught. He was Asa's most important client, and he was the first one Asa wanted to talk to about Mercury's warning. Aught lived in a flat close to the center of the city, which meant he wasn't that far from Asa. As he made his way across the city, he couldn't help but worry over Mercury's warming. He needed Aught, at least until he was hired by someone who would pay more. When Aught's building finally came into view, Asa breathed a sigh of relief. Everything appeared normal, no police cars, no helicopters, and it seemed that Aught was waiting for him on his balcony. He made one last jump, and landed right next to Aught. Asa stood up, and saw an amused smile play over the enormous man's face. Aught was the polar opposite of Asa. He towered over Asa, standing almost 6' 5", and weighting close to 300 pounds. He patted Asa on the back with an enormous hand, almost knocking him over. "You, my little friend, never cease to amaze me." Aught boomed. Asa followed him into the flat, struggling to match his huge strides. The flat was lavishly decorated, with leather furniture, exotic wood floors, and a full bar facing the enormous window walls. Asa never felt comfortable in here. He was always afraid he would break something, and it would come out of his pay, or lose him a client.

"Now," Aught boomed, pouring himself a glass of scotch, "to what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

"The police are starting to crack down on us and our employers. I suggest we take extra precautions to keep our activities hidden."

Aught laughed, "My dear boy, what makes you think the authorities would dare to come after me?"

Asa could feel his anger start to build. He hated arrogant people. "What make _you_ think they wouldn't?" Asa shot back, trying to contain his resentment.

Aught raised one eyebrow and said in an infuriatingly all-knowing voice, "Because I've paid off a number of officials, and I would be the first to know if either one of us was in danger, not you." Asa felt his skin bristle. If there was one thing he hated more than arrogant people, it was being talked down to. He fought to control his anger. Asa was about to tell Aught he could go make love to a porcupine, when main door suddenly exploded off its frame. A swarm of police burst into the room, weapons at the ready. Asa watched in horror as one of them shot Aught, who was reaching for a pistol, right in the head. The bullet exited the back of his head, taking with it bits of skull and brain, and a fountain of blood. Asa was horrified, but his training kicked in. He grabbed a jade Buddha from off the table he was next to, and hurled it at one of the window walls. The window completely shattered and the glass began it's decent toward the floor. Asa couldn't wait for all of it to hit he ground, the police were only a few feet behind him. He tore through the falling glass, feeling it slice him open in various places. He flew to the roof of the building directly across from him, losing his footing and falling flat on his face. His heart was racing, the only thought that was flying through his mind that was that he needed to get home, and warn the others. He started to run, awkwardly at first, his panicked mind not letting his body function. But soon his body took over, and he was moving effortlessly back to his apartment. The blood was now starting to run freely from his cuts, especially the one over his right eyebrow. He had to constantly wipe away the blood when it started flowing into his eye, impeding his progress. He could finally see home, just one more leap, and he'd be home. But as he neared the gap, he stooped dead in his tracks. He could hear sirens, faintly, but clearly. He ran to the side of the building and looked down at the road. Lining the side of the building were three police cruisers, lights flashing. He stared at them, unsure what to do. He was just about to head toward Faith's home when the door on his apartment building flew open. A swarm of police came flooding out, looking for him. One spotted him and shouted to the others. Asa stood there, frozen, like a deer caught in the headlights of a big rig. He was compelled to run, however, when he heard the high pitched wizz of a bullet flying past his head. He took off like a bat out of hell, running as fast as he could towards Faith. He heard the yelling of the police fade into the distance as he flew across the rooftops, his mind and body high on adrenaline. He started to come down from the high about half way, and had to stop for a break. He leaned against of the enormous air conditioning units that sat on the roof. His lungs were burning; his face was dripping with sweat and blood. Every one of the cuts on his arms and face were stinging like wasps. He needed to get moving but his body wasn't making things easy for him. He got shakily to his feet, his legs and feet protesting at the effort. He pushed on, ignoring the pain and fatigue he felt.

At last, he came to halt on the roof of Faith's building. He started toward the door, just as it flew open. Faith hurtled out it, almost knocking him over. She stared at him with a look of shock on her face, then grabbed his hand and started pulling.

"Come on, we have to leave." She said with a sense of urgency.

"But…." Asa weakly, allowing himself to be pulled along.

"Now!!" Faith shouted, pulling him at top speed. Asa let go of her hand and started running on his own. He was nearing the end of his endurance. His legs felt like they were made of lead, and his lungs were burning. He heard shouts behind him, ordering him to stop. He pushed himself as hard as he could, following Faith to the edge. He jumped, letting Faith guide him. His eyes widened when he saw just how misplace this trust might have been. Faith had lead him off a fifty foot drop. He thought for sure that this was going to be the fall that broke him. They landed on a tarp stretched out over a stack of crates. The tarp seemed to stretch for ever before it finally gave. Asa landed hard crates. His whole body was one big pain. He felt like just laying there for ever, not caring who or what found him. But Faith wouldn't let him. She started yelling at him to get up, pulling him up by his arm. He was so tired and sore that he could have cried at the injustice of having to go on. But he got up and followed her. They ran for what seemed like hours, eventually stopping at Merc's hideout. Asa just collapsed on the floor, unwilling to do anything else but lay there. He saw Merc get up from his computer and run over them. He knew that Merc was talking to him, but all he could hear was his heart beating in his ears. He let Faith fuss over his cuts, not caring about what happened to him now. As he started to drift off into unconsciousness, he could hear the distant thumping of helicopters.


	3. Chapter 3

When Asa finally awoke, it was well past dark. He forced himself to get up, ignoring the stiffness of joints and the fatigue in his muscles. He walked stiffly over to the refrigerator and downed a bottle of water as fast as he could. He finished of the bottle and wandered into the control room. Faith was sitting cross-legged on a chair, staring at the computer screen. She jumped out of the chair when she saw him, and wrapped him in a tight hug. They just stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything, before Faith let him go.

"It's good to see you up again," She said, walking back over to the computer.

"How long was I out for?"

"About twelve hours."

"Wow," he said, sitting next to her "what did I miss?"

"A lot. Pope's dead, someone shot him yesterday morning."

Asa was shocked. Pope was a mayoral candidate running in the current election. He opposed the city's oppressive and proposed to slacken it. He was the underdog candidate, but he was rapidly gaining popularity.

"Who killed him?" Asa said, sitting back down on the couch.

"Dunno. All I know is that they're accusing me and Kate for it."

"What? What possible reason would they have to think you two did it?" Asa shouted. Kate was Faith's sister. She was also a CPF cop. Apparently there was some bad blood between them; she only told him she even had a sister about a year ago.

"Well, it's a long story. There was some activity over at Pope's office, so I decided to check it out. When got there, he was already dead. Kate said he called her. When she got there, they talked for awhile. She left for a minute and when she came back, Pope was dead. Then the police showed up and I had to haul ass. I did manage to get this, though." Faith reached into her pocket and pulled out a little slip of paper. On it, written in big letters, was the word Icarus.

"Icarus, huh?" Asa said, handing the slip back to Faith "It sounds familiar."

"In Greek mythology, Icarus's father built him a pair of wings from feathers and wax. His father warned him to get to close to the sun, but Icarus ignored him. His wings melted, and he fell back to the earth and was killed."

"That's interesting and all, but what does it have to do with us?"

"I don't know. There's nothing in the city data base on Icarus. I think I know some one who can tell us." Faith replied, still staring at the computer.

"Who?" Asa asked, sitting down on the table, next the computer.

"Pope's head of security, an old wrester called Ropeburn. I think he might have something to do with Pope's murder."

"And how did you figure that one out?" Asa asked.

Faith was silent for a few seconds before she said "I was talking to Jackknife about it."

"Jackknife? How the hell did you even find him? And why him, of all people?" Jackknife used to be a runner, and a damn good one at that. But about half a year ago, he disappeared. It was like he fell of the face of the earth. Needless to say, this brought a bit of animosity among the runners. Asa never like him anyway. He was cocky, and never gave a straight answer. There was always something off about him, too. He always had this look on his face like he knew something you didn't, and that that something was huge.

"It's a long story; let's just say that we have a friend in a high place." Faith looked off into the middle distance, as if searching for the answers to all of life's questions.

Asa was itching to get moving again. "So, when are we gonna go find this Ropeburn guy?" he asked, hopping down from the table.

"We?" Faith said, getting up from her chair, "_I'm_ going to leave as soon as Merc gets back. _You _aren't going anywhere."

"What? Come on, I'm just as capable as you are!"

"It's too dangerous; the cops out there want me dead. If you're seen with me, they'll come after you too."

"They've already tried to kill me! Or did you forget? What does it matter if I'm seen with you now?"

"Listen, it's too dangerous, pure and simple. You're not coming with me, period. "

"No, you listen," Asa shouted, "If this really as dangerous as you say it is, you can use my help. And even if leave without me, I'll still follow you." Faith stood there, looking into his determined eyes. She knew she couldn't win. Even if she did leave without him, she was sure he would follow her. And if he was caught by himself, he wouldn't have a chance against the SWAT teams that she was seeing all around town.

"Fine," Faith said with a sigh, "you can come with me. But I'm not waiting for you. If you can't keep up, too bad."

"Don't' worry, I won't fall behind." Asa said, smiling. "Hey, let's warm up a bit before with leave."

Faith got up from the chair, "How do you wanna do that?"

"Like…this!" Asa said, launching himself at her. He did this all the time, Faith though, and it always end's up the same. Faith grabbed him in mid-air, and took him the ground. She grabbed his wrist and put him in an armbar. Asa tried to wriggle out it, but without success.

"Alright, you win!" Asa said, tapping out. After Faith let him up, she pulled out a pair of fingerless gloves. They were similar to the ones almost every runner used to avoid cuts on the hands. They were red, with a blue stripe running horizontally around the palm and the back of the hand.

"Here," Faith said, throwing the gloves to him, "I got these for you the other day. "

"Thanks!" Asa said, slipping on the gloves. They were much better fitting than his old pair. He closed the Velcro straps around his wrists, and flexed his hands. The gloves fit, well, like a glove. "Thanks a lot." Asa said again, giving Faith a hug.

"Come on," Faith said, "we need to get going." They went over to the door, if you could call it that. Merc's lair was actually a large, disemboweled AC unit one a rooftop. The only way in or out was a hole in the roof where they fan used to be. Faith hopped up and out with no problem, but Asa had a bit of problem reaching the top. Faith quipped about his height, and Asa shot her a dirty look, and they took off. Faith wasn't kidding about not holding back. Asa struggled to keep up with her. It looked like they were headed towards the New Eden Mall, which was still under construction. Asa could only guess where they were headed, since he wasn't about to waste his breath asking questions. The mall slowly came into sight, a huge, sprawling building. The outside looked complete, so Asa guessed that only the inside was incomplete. Faith came to a stop near the edge of the building, looking across at the mall. Asa stopped next to her, looking at her for an explanation.

"We need to get to the top." Faith said, looking around.  
"Why?" Asa asked, "What's up there?"

"Ropeburn will be meeting with Lt. Miller, Kate's superior. They'll be discussing Icarus."

"How do you know?" Asa asked crossly, wondering how she could possibly know that.

"I talked to Miller earlier, and arranged for it."

"You **what?**!" Asa shouted. What was she doing meeting with a police lieutenant of all people.

"Don't worry, he's on our side." Faith said "He doesn't want to see Kate get hurt anymore than we do."

"How do you know he's not just leading you into a trap? The mall would be a perfect place. There wouldn't be anyone so see anything."

"Look, I'm going in there, regardless. You can either wait here for me to come back, or come with me. " Faith took off, making her way down to the entrance of the mall. She didn't bother waiting for an answer because she already knew that Asa would follow. Sure enough, Asa followed her down to street level. He couldn't shake the feeling, though, that this venture wasn't going to end well for them.


	4. Chapter 4

1

Asa's suspicions were slowly becoming confirmed. The first thing they noticed was the complete lack of traffic by the mall. The entire section of the city seemed deserted. The next thing was that even though there shouldn't have been anyone in the mall, all the lights were on. Faith decided that the best way to get the roof was to ascend to the top floor, and try to find maintenance accesses to the roof. They had gotten to the base of the escalator between the second and third floor, when Asa saw something that made his heart stop. Standing at the top of the escalator was a figure clad in what looked like white body armor. The figure turned and ran out of sight. There was a rush of footsteps, and about half a dozen police, armed with riot shields and machine guns took position at the top of the escalators. There was an odd second where time seemed to stand still. The police looked down at them, and they looked up at the police. Asa was only aware of his heart beating, so loud that he was sure that everyone could hear it. Then, one of the cops raised his gun and fired. It was at that moment that all hell broke lose. Faith grabbed Asa's hand, and they took off. There were bullets flying everywhere, sounding like enraged mosquitoes as they whizzed by him. Asa knew just as well as Faith that there was only one way off the floor. Next to the escalators was elevator, and typical of elevators in malls, it was mostly glass.

They dodged their way over to it, and dived in. Faith hit the call button, and the elevator began it's slow decent upward. After what seemed like an eternity of flying bullets and shattering glass, the elevator came to a halt. They were still only two floors above their pursuers, but Faith knew that police in full riot gear where not very fast. She charged out of the elevator, running toward the opposite end of the floor. Asa followed her, knowing that there was no real plan anymore. They passed another escalator, just in time to see another squad of police ascending them. Asa followed Faith around a corner, and saw their way out. There was a vent near the top of the far wall. There was no way he could just jump and reach it, so he had to get creative. He would need to wallrun, turn and jump to land on the duct. Turns out, Faith was thinking the exact same thing, and she executed the maneuver perfectly. Asa followed her, scrambling into the air duct at the last second. He crawled after Faith, until they got to what looked like a maintenance shaft. There was a giant fan in the floor, and a walkway over looking it. They sat for a few minutes, assessing what had just happened. Asa shot Faith an I-told-you-so look, and jumped up onto the catwalk to check the doors.

"They're locked," he said, jumping back down.

"Looks like this is the only way out then." Faith said, hitting the emergency stop button for the fan. The fan slowly cam to a halt, presenting a ten foot drop the ground. Faith dropped down first, waving for Asa to follow.

"What do we do now?" Asa whispered, trying not trip over various construction materials in the dark hallway.

"We need to find a way out ASAP." Faith answered, scanning the hall for a quick way out.

"No shit." Asa mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

They rounded the corner and found themselves in a brightly light room, right behind a cop. Asa froze like a deer caught in a car's headlights, but Faith continued forward. She snuck up behind the cop, then in one quick motion, grabbed his head and gave a violent jerk. There was a sickening cracking sound, and the cop's body crumpled. Asa just about lost it. He fought to keep from getting sick. It wasn't so much the sight as it was the sound. That sound would stay with him forever.

"Pull yourself together," Faith said, her voice cold. She bent down to pick up the cop's gun, saying "We don't have time for that." Faith walked out of the room, gun raised. Instantly she saw that they had gone from the frying pan to the fire. They were in the main room of the mall, and it was crawling with police. In fact, there was one just of to her left. Before she could even move, the cop started reaching for his gun. She was quicker, though, and fired twice in the cop's chest. She looked around, and saw an open vent positioned about twelve feet of the floor.

"Let's go!" She yelled, propelling herself of a stack of cinderblocks into the opening. Asa sprung up after her, scrambling to get away from the pursuing cops. They crept along in the vent, until it dead ended, and they continued upward until the vent ended. Faith kicked off the grate and fell to the ground, gun at the ready. She motioned to Asa, and started toward a set of stairs at the end of the hall. She heard Asa her up the stairs. "I think we're on the roof," Faith said, pulling open a door. And sure enough, the doors lead out on to the roof. The sun was setting, and a chopper was gearing up to take off.

"Damn it," Faith cursed, "I think we just missed..." Faith felt something slam into the side of her head with enormous force, knocking her to the ground. Before she could regain herself, the largest man she had ever seen grabbed her neck, lifting her of the ground. Asa leapt at the man, but was hit by a backhand to the gut. The force of the impact sent him flying ten feet back, and left him struggling to breathe.

"You messed with the wrong guy, girly," the man growled, "no one beats Ropeburn." He threw Faith down onto an outcropping, and jumped down after her. Faith managed to stagger to her feet just as Ropeburn ripped a pipe of the wall and charge her. Ropeburn swung at her, but Faith grabbed his arm and swung him off balance. Ropeburn stumbled for a few steps, then tripped over the edge of the roof. He managed to grab the ledge and start to pull himself up. Faith walked over, and put her foot on his fingers.

"Wait! Wait!" Ropeburn shouted "I'll give yah anyting you want, just let me up."

"Who framed Kate Connors?" Faith asked, putting more pressure on his fingers. Ropeburn started to answer, but a shot rang out before he could say anything. Ropeburn let go of the ledge, falling four stories to the ground. Asa came racing over the edge, jumping down to Faith.

"Are you alright?" he said, running up to her. Faith though she saw a figure on the opposite building, but she wasn't sure.

"Yeah," Faith mumbled, "let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for everyone for waiting so patiently for this chapter. Hopefully the next one won't take so long to complete ^.^;;

Chapter 5

They decided to investigate the adjacent building where Faith though she had seen something. They had to take a round-about method to get there, as the area was still swarming with cops.

"There's nothing here." Asa said, looking around him. The white clad figure he had seen earlier still nagged at him. Something was maddeningly familiar about it.

"No," Faith said, "look at this." She held up a single bullet casing. It was obviously from a large caliber rifle.

"Police sniper?" Asa asked, examining the casing.

"Dunno, but if it was, why shoot Ropeburn? Wouldn't make more sense to shoot me?" Asa just shrugged at the question, and cast away the casing.

"Let's head back." he said, setting off toward home. The entire way back he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed. The white figure would not leave his mind, and it was driving him crazy. He decide that he was just tired, and some sleep would help clear his mind.

When they got back, Faith and Merc wend off and talked in hushed voices about what happened. Asa threw himself down on the couch, not caring about anything else. He couldn't wait for the release his dreamscapes brought him. But sleep brought no relief this time.

He was chasing him, the white figure, across the rooftops. He was so close he could almost touch him. But he started slipping away, slowly moving away form Asa. Asa willed his legs to move faster, but they had turned to lead. The white figure was almost out of sight now, and Asa cried out in frustration. But then he was there, standing in front of him. Asa reach up with trembling hands, and grasped the edges of his mask. He pulled it away with one swift motion, and woke up with a start. Faith was sitting at a computer, staring intently at the screen.

"You alright?" she asked, not looking away form the computer.

"Yeah, why?"

"You were talking in your sleep."

"Oh." Asa said, walking over to her. She had a number of windows pulled up, but one of them caught his eye. "Kruger security, that was the company Ropeburn worked for, right?

"Yeah," Faith said, pointing at the screen, "I was looking into them, and something doesn't add up. They're spending thousands more than they need to. And it's all in little places too. A hundred more dollars on lightbulbs, two-hundred on janitorial, but it adds up."

"Even so," Asa said, "what makes you think something's out of place?"

"I dunno, but it just feels wrong. I'm gonna see if I can't get in there and take a look around."

"Are you insane? You're going to try and break into the largest private security company since Blackwater?"

"There's something important going on there, and I need to find out what. It's big enough to have the cops on edge, too."

"You'll need help, there's no way you can do this on your own."

Faith shot him a look. "You're _not coming._"

"Come on!" Asa shouted, "You're going to need all the help you can get. I can scout ahead, and keep a lookout for cops. They're still looking for you, in case you forgot." Faith was about to shout back when Merc dropped in.

"Merc!" Asa shouted, gesturing at Faith with his hands, "tell her she's crazy to try this, especially by herself!"

"You're crazy, Faith." Merc said.

"Thank you!"

"But, you aint gonna be the one to help out here, kid. It's too dangerous."

"What?!"

"You're too young, kid. We need someone more experienced to pull this off."

"What about Celeste?" Faith asked.

"I already asked, she's got another job." Merc answered. They went through a whole list of people, trying to find someone. But it seemed like everyone was either busy, or they couldn't get a hold of them.

"Looks like you're out of options." Asa said, smirking.

"That just means I'm going it alone." Faith answered coldly.

"No," Merc said, "you need some one to atleast look out for you. But listen close, kid, this aint fun and games no more. This is life or death. You fuck up one time, not only do you kill yourself, but you kill Faith too. You're only job is observe and report. Understand?" Asa nodded, looking down at the ground. He knew he was right, but still, leave it to Merc to sap the fun out of everything.


	6. Chapter 6

Wow, two chapters in a week? I must have more time than I thought.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm in position." Asa whispered into his mic. He was laying on top of a building a few blocks away from the Kruger security building. Merc had lent him some high powered binoculars, and with them he could see everything.

"Can you see anyone?" Faith said, moving at a steady pace toward the building.

"Yeah, I can see two snipers. One on top of a billboard, and the other is on top the roof."

"Roger." Faith replied. She knew they were taking a huge risk, and even the back door had more guards than she was comfortable with. She approached the billboard from behind, she quickly relived the man of his rifle, and shot the sniper on the roof. Assault rifles clattered as the police below opened fire, but Faith quickly dispatched them.

"Good luck." Asa whispered, as Faith disappeared inside the building.

"Thanks," came the whispered reply. And then the hard part came. The waiting. The minutes seemed like hours as they slowly ticked by. Then a transmission crackled in.

"I've got something here." Faith said over the radio, "Something called Project Icarus. That's were all the money has been going. Hold on," several seconds past before Faith continues "Icarus was initiated by the government. Apparently it was designed to….to take out us."

"Us? Who's us?" Asa asked, feeling an unknown terror creeping in on him.

"Runners! They're trying to take down the runners!" Faith yelled, the various bits of the puzzle falling into place in her head. The shard of paper from Pope's office, the odd spending, the increased police presents.

"Calm down now, kid," Merc's voice flowed in, "How are they even gonna try and accomplish that?"

"Dunno, it says something about Counters, but not a whole lot about what they are. It says that they're trained here, though. Woah. Merc are you seeing this."

"Yeah, yeah I see it." Merc answered.

"What? See what?" Asa demanded to know.

"It looks like some kind of training facility. Shit, I've got company. I'm getting out." Faith said.

"Cops?" Asa asked, getting to his feet and running to where he thought she would come out.

"No, more of the guys in white." Faith answered. Asa spotted Faith coming out on one rooftops. She was chasing one white figure, and being chased by two others. "I'll take the one out front, you take care of those two behind you."

"Alright." Faith said. She didn't think this was a good idea, but she didn't have a choice. These guys were fast, and agile, despite their body armor. She spun around, and took out the first one with a knee to chest followed by a hammer-fist to the back of the head. The second one drew a taser and fired. Faith stepped to the side, and the nodes flew harmlessly past. She kicked him in the chest, and he staggered to the edge of the roof, and tripping over the edge, feel to the ground. Faith looked around to see if she could see Asa, but they were gone.

"How far ahead are they, Merc?" Faith asked, running in the general direction she last saw them.

"The're way ahead of you, kiddo. Looks like their heading toward the river." Faith took off, following Merc's directions, and hoping to God that Asa was alright.

***

_He's good,_ Asa thought as he followed the white figure to the docks. The sun was almost set, but the figure showed no signs of slowing down. _Or maybe I should say "she"._ The person had a rather long blonde ponytail. "How ya doin', kid?" Merc's voice crackled over the radio.

"Fine," Asa replied, "It looks like we're headed for the docks. She's gonna run out of places to run pretty soon." They had reached the river, were Asa expected the chase to come to an end. But she leaped from the last warehouse onto the deck of a freighter. Asa jumped on after her. _She's trapped, _Asa thought, _but what now? _He wasn't quite sure what to do, but his opponent did. She came at him, fists flying. Asa managed to block some of the strikes, but he was no martial arts expert. He caught a open hand strike to the chest, the a round-house kick to the chest. He was sent sprawling across the deck. He hauled himself to his feet. Asa turned to face his opponent, and found himself staring in to the barrel of a gun.

"Sorry, kid," the woman said, "it's nothing personal." Asa locked up at the sound of the voice. He clenched his fists together so hard that they would have drawn blood, if it weren't for his gloves.

"You," Asa growled through clenched teeth, "you bitch! How could you betray us like this?"

"I swore no allegiance to anyone of the runners." Celeste said, flicking the safety of the gun. Everything next was a blur. Celeste pulled the trigger, just as Faith hit her. The bullet grazed Asa's arm, but didn't do much damage. Faith wrenched the gun from Celeste's hand, and pointed it at her.

"Why, Cel?" Faith asked, trying to contain the mix of rage and grief, "Why did you turn?"

"I don't know about you, Faith, but I don't want to be hunted for the rest of my life. Now if you'll excuse me, I can't be seen with you." Celeste threw herself over the railing. Faith ran to the edge and looked over, but she was gone. She screamed, and hurled the gun into the water. Celeste was one of her oldest friends, and for her to be able to turn so easily was infuriating. _No time to think about that now, though_, Faith thought. She ran over to Asa, who had propped himself up against a cargo crate, and was bandaging his arm with his shirt.

"Are you alright?" Faith asked, crouching down next to him.

"Yeah," Asa said, closing his eyes, "I guess I owe you one. She would have killed me if you hadn't shown up."

"You owe me more than one," Faith quipped, ruffling his hair, "come on, let's get back. I'm sure Merc is worried sick about us."

Asa laughed, "He's probably asleep."

"Yeah," Faith smiled, "you're probably right."


	7. Chapter 7

"I still can't believe she would do this." Merc sighed, taking a closer look at Asa's arm. In addition to being the mission controller, Merc also served as the medic of the group. Asa would be fine, but he would always carry the scar of Celeste's betrayal. Asa flexed his arm. The bullet had just barely grazed him.

"I do have some good news in at least." Merc said, walking over his usual spot in front of the computers.

"And what would that be?" Faith said, resting her head in her hands.

"I've managed to figure out when the Blues will be moving Kate from the county to the State pen. I've got routes and times. The works."

"So, what's the plan then?" Faith asked, lifting her head.

"There's a stretch of road the convoy'll use, and one of the building's they'll be driving to has one of it's floors under renovations. If I can get you up there with a heavy caliber rifle, you should be able to shoot out the engine block on the transport truck. I'll send Asa ahead with the rifle, so it'll be waiting for you when you get there."

Faith opened her mouth to protest against Asa getting involved, but closed it. Asa was a valuable runner, and the only reason she didn't want him to get hurt. When Celeste shot him earlier, her heart stopped. She won't be able to forgive herself if anything happened to him. She watch him absent-mindedly trace the wound on his right arm. It was right under his tattoo. Most runners had tattoos, usually fairly intricate and large. Faith's ran almost all the way down her right arm, and was supposed to represent a mother board. But Asa only had one, simple tattoo. It was a seven pointed asterisk, with the top arm reaching down into the center of design. Asa claimed it was the symbol of a secret group called "The Seventh Column." The Seventh Column was supposedly a secret revolutionary group that had moles through out the government, even up the national level. Faith had never heard of it, though Asa claimed both his mother and father were members.

"Alright," Faith said, standing up, "when is this gonna go down?"

"Two days from now." Merc answered.

"Do you have the rifle right now, or do I need to pick it up for you?" Asa asked.

"Actually, I've got it right here." Merc got up and walked over to a silver case across the room. He unlatched it, and pulled out a huge sniper rifle. Faith burst out laughing.

"Are you sure you'll be able to carry that? It's almost as big as you are!" Standing on the butt, the rifle came up to Asa's neck.

Asa made a face at Faith. "Not a problem, give it here, Merc." Asa took the rifle from Merc, and almost dropped it. Faith laughed even harder. "Jesus, how much does this thing weight?" Asa asked, hefting it.

"About thirty pounds." Merc answered, taking the rifle and putting in back in its case. "Now, we've got some planning to do. That convey is sure to have some escorts, and this has to go down as quickly as possible. We have to be in and out of there quickly. There can't be any fuck ups."

***

Asa tightened the strap around his shoulder and set out. Immediately he could feel how awkward the enormous rifle was. When he finally got the drop point, he was out of breath and panting, and not in the wow-I-feel-great way, but in the Holy-shit-I'm-about-to-bust-a-lung way. He un-slung the rifle, and set it down in front of the window. Merc was right, he thought, we'll only get one shot at this. Asa knew there was a million things that could go wrong, and that Mr. Murphy could show up at any moment. He climbed back up to the roof and radioed Merc.

"Merc, call me when we're ready to go." he said.

"Sure thing, kid." Asa stretched out in the sunlight and decided to take a little catnap. He had the most amazing dream. He was standing on a white platform, hovering in the middle of a blue expanse. In the distance, there were yellow and white cubes forming random shapes. He blinked, and a obstacle course of shapes laid out before him. He began to run. He was flowing effortlessly between the different platforms and shapes. No city, no cops, no people, this was free running in it's most basic form. He was right in the middle of navigating a bunch of purple platforms when Merc radioed him.

"Alright, kid, it's five minutes to go time."

"Thanks," Asa said, sitting up. He always has the worst timing, he thought.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm in position." Faith said, hefting the rifle. Damn, she thought, how did that kid get this thing here in one piece?

"Me too." Asa informed them. His job was to recover Kate and take her back to Merc.

"The convoy should be coming into view….now. Go for the second vehicle." Merc said over the radio. Faith saw the lead car turn the corner, and an armored van followed it around the corner. Faith placed her finger on the trigger, and took a deep breath. She waited until the van was about to turn the corner before she pulled the trigger. For one sickening moment Faith thought the van had exploded. Flames shot out the tailpipe, and the van flipped and slid into the building's façade. Asa ran over the van, and forced open the doors. Kate was inside, getting to her feet when she saw him.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, taking a step back.

"No time to explain," Asa said, undoing Kate's handcuffs, "follow me!" They stared towards Merc. "I've got her, we're heading back." Asa said over the radio.

"You get out of there too, Faith!" Merc told her, "The Blues had some major reinforcements on the way!"

"Got it." Faith replied, heading for the roof.

It took some doing to get Kate up to Merc, but they did. "Where's Faith?" Kate asked as soon as she got there.

"She ran into some Blues, but she's on here way back now." Merc said, not looking away from his computers. Asa took the chance to size up Kate. She could have been Faith's twin, but she was also the exact opposite. Unlike Faith, Kate had her hair up in a tight bun, and she also wore a tight uniform, as opposed to Faith's loose, casual style. Kate caught his eye, and he looked away. Those piercing eyes are another thing they have in common, Asa thought.

"How far away is she?" Kate asked, turning back to Merc.

"I dunno," Merc said, wrinkling his brow, "she's dropped out of radio contact, and I'm not picking up her tracer signal. It's almost like….." Merc trailed off.

"Like what?" Asa said, getting to his feet. His heart started to beat faster. "Like what?" He demanded.

"Like we're being jammed." Merc replied. As soon as the words left his mouth, Asa heard what sounded like two metallic clangs on the ground.. He turned, and saw two grey canisters laying on the ground. He was about to ask the others what they were, when both of them exploded. It was the brightest light, and the loudest bang he had ever heard. He tried to blink away the whiteness, but he couldn't. His ears felt like they were bleeding. The white sheet became a fog, and through it he could see Merc pull a gun and start shooting at the cops. He saw him get hit once, twice, three times. The blues started toward him, and he tried to fight them off. Asa wasn't a fighter, he'd never thrown a in anger in his life. He always relied on his skills as a runner to keep him out of danger. But now the blues had him cornered, mostly deaf and blinded. He threw a wild right hook at what he though was an approaching cop. The cop deftly side stepped the wild punch, grabbed his wrist and slammed him in the side of the head with his baton. Asa fell to the ground, knocked unconscious.

When he finally came to, the place was a wreck. All the furniture was overturned, and every computer was destroyed. Asa stood up, and what he saw made his heart stop. Laying face up next to the computers, was Merc. Asa stumbled over to him, and knelt down, feeling for a pulse. But there was nothing. He started crying, resting his head on Merc's massive chest. Merc was somewhere between a brother and a father to Asa. He wasn't sure how long he knelt there, but it felt like hours. Finally, he heard a dull thud behind him. He turned and saw Faith with her hand over her mouth, staring at Merc's body. He ran over to her, and wrapped his arms around her.

"They killed him." He managed to choke out, "They killed him and took Kate."

"Don't worry," She said, hugging him, "we'll avenge him, and get her back." Faith blinked back her tears. I need to be strong, Faith thought, he needs me to be strong. Oh God, Merc, why now? "Come on, now, we need to leave before the Blues come back." She helped him up and out of the exit, the took a look back before leaving. "Don't worry, we'll come back for you."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Assault on The Control Room

The Shard. The beating heart and nerve center of the city's government. It was viable form almost anywhere in the city, a light blue in color that made it stand out from any other building. It was a constant reminder of the constant oppression, or protection, depending how you look at it, the city was under. The size of it was staggering; As tall as two Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other. It rivaled even the Dubai Tower. It was there that most offices of the government were located, as well as Mayor Callaghan's office and the huge server banks that handled all the surveillance data from the city. And where Kate is, Faith thought grimly, staring at the monolith from one from one of the many surrounding buildings.

She cast a sidelong glance at Asa, standing next to her. His eyes were fixed firmly on the floor. It had taken much longer than it should have to get her. Asa could barely move at first, his body paralyzed with grief. Once the initial wave passed, the shock of losing Merc set in. It seemed unreal, that such a large, important person in their lives could be so swiftly taken away. But now, something else was beginning to settle over Asa: doubt. Doubt in their mission, doubt in his abilities and doubt in himself. She could see it in his eyes, and the way he held himself. Doubt was a poison from the mind. It lead to second guessing and hesitation, both of which lead to mistakes. And in their profession, even a small mistake could kill. But now, as they were about to assault the enemy stronghold, there could be no doubt. She turned to him, "Asa..." She said, not entirely sure what to say to him.

"Yeah...?" His voice was hoarse. He turned to face her, though he didn't raise his eyes from the floor.

"Look...I know this isn't easy." She began, searching for the right words. "I miss Merc too. I know it's hard, losing someone like that, but we can't dwell on it right now. We have to concentrate on getting in there." She pointed back at the Shard. "And we can't do it if we're preoccupied. You need to focus."

"I know," he said, eyes still glued to the ground,"but I can't stop thinking about what happened. If only I hadn't been so useless, just been even a little bit competent..."

"No." Faith grabbed his shoulders, "Asa, you can't bl-...look at me," She lifted his chin, looking him dead in the eyes. Those beautiful, young eyes, they've seen too much for someone so young, she thought. "You cannot, _cannot_, blame yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault, there wasn't anything you could have done. If you start doubting yourself now, it's all over. There's already a 99% chance that I'm not getting out of there alive. I understand if you don't wanna come, and frankly I don't want you to. I'd rather you get out of the city, I know people who will look after you. But if you want to come, you have to get it in your head that it wasn't your fault. Don't doubt yourself! You're the most talented runner I've ever met! You have to believe in your abilities, and yourself if we're gonna make it out of there alive. So, what's it gonna be?"

Asa stared at her, not making as single sound as she spoke. When she stopped, he continued to stare, not saying anything for a few moments, before wrapping Faith in a tight hug. Faith held him close, waiting for his reply.

"Alright," he eventually said, "I'll come with you. No more doubt, no more fear. Let's finish this."

They moved toward the Shard on through back alleys and low rooftops, trying to avoid too many people. Faith managed to find access to the underground maintenance tunnels of the Shard. It took a little bit of creative navagating, but eventually they ended up in one of the Shard's many maintenance halls. Down the hallway was a pair of doors. Asa tired the handle on the first one, "It's locked," he announced.

"This one too." Faith said, taking a step back and giving the door a hard kick. It didn't budge.

"Well, damn, I guess we'll have to find another way." Asa headed back the way they came in. "Hey, do you hear that?" Asa asked, tilting his head slightly to one side.

"Yeah...What is that?"Faith walked over to Asa, who was already on his hands and knees, looking for the source. He followed the sound to a dislodged service panel near the floor.

"There's a couple of wires arching down here, looks like some rats musta chewed through them." Asa said, standing back up. Faith nodded, wondering what their options were now. Surely there must be other ways into the Shard, but how many were actually feasible? Faith's eyes wandered until they fell on one of the many pipes lining the walls. Directly in front of one of the locked doors was a pressure release valve.

"I wonder." Faith muttered, giving the valve a small turn. She sniffed at the gas that came hissing out. Yup, that's natural gas, Faith thought, closing the valve again.

"Umm, what are you doing?" Asa appeared by her side, giving her a quizzical look. Faith only held up her hand, looking up and down the hallway.

"There's a good place." She said, hurrying to the other end of the hall.

"What? What's a good place?" Asa asked, a bit exasperated. Faith lead him to the end of the hall, where a grate had been pulled a way to allow access to a small alcove of sorts.

"Get in there." Faith said, pointing at the small space.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it!" Faith gave Asa a little push. Asa begrudgingly crawled in, muttering to himself. Faith ran back to the valve, and giving it a few hard turns, ran all the way back to Asa was, sliding in with him. The gas was pouring out of the valve, hissing like an angry snake.

"Ok, seriously, what the hell are you doing?" Asa demanded, the smell of gas filling the air. Faith only chuckled.

"You'll see." Almost immediately after Faith spoke, the gas met the sparking wires, and a huge fireball erupted, a wall of flame exploding down the hallway. Faith shot Asa a smug look. "That's what I'm doing."

Asa looked at with dumbfounded shock. "Jesus Christ, Faith, have you never heard of subtlety?" Faith only laughed, gabbing him by the hand and pulling him out. The door in front of the pipe had been completely blown off it's hinges. Faith ran down the hallway on the other side, Asa in tow. The door on the other end lead to a parking garage, which was, of course, crawling with blues.

"Shit!" shouted one, pulling his pistol out of it's holster, "call for backup, now!" Faith quickly relieved him of his weapon, knocking him unconscious before turning and shoting his partner twice in the chest, taking his weapon as well.

"Lets go!" Faith yelled, "Stay behind me!" Asa stuck to her like glue as they tore through the parking lot, bullets whizzing through the air. Faith slid to a halt behind a car. "Stay here." Faith handed Asa one of the pistols, "Don't come out until I call you." She tore off toward the remaining cops before Asa could protest. Asa just sat there, huddled behind the car, hands over his ears as the battle raged around him. He didn't understand how people could get used to killing. He'd seem death before, quite a few times actually, and each time it made his stomach churn. Suddenly the gunfire stopped.

"Faith?" Asa called out hesitantly, peeking around the car's bumper. Faith was standing on the far side of the parking structure, three dead cops laying dead at her feet. She motioned him over. "Geez, Faith, you're a real terror." Asa chuckled nervously, walking over to her.

"Hold onto that." Faith ordered, gesturing at Asa's handgun.  
"What am I supposed to do this this? I'm a pacifist."

"I know, but they aren't." Faith replied, matter-of-factly, pointing at the corpses. Asa grumbled, but slipped the pistol into his waistband, behind his back. The cold, hard metal was unpleasant. Faith walked over to an elevator across from them and hit the call button. After a moment, the doors slid open and they stepped in. Asa glanced over at Faith, and shivered. There was a look in her eyes, the stare of a stone cold killer. The usual playful glint had gone from them. Asa shivered again. He never wanted that look directed at him.

"Are you alright?" Faith asked. Asa looked back at her. What ever killing instinct that took hold of her had fled just as quickly as it appeared.

"Yeah," He replied quickly, "I'm fine." The elevator doors finally slide open, and Faith took off down the hall, Asa following closely behind. Faith vaulted off a chair at the end of the hall, up onto a catwalk that lead to a door. She kicked it open, and was promptly punched in the face by a guard standing right next to the door.

"Faith!" Asa shouted, catching her before she hit the ground. Faith sat up to see Miller standing on the other side of the room, with two cops standing on either side of him.

"Good work, check them." He ordered, drawing his two pistols as the cops advanced towards them. He took careful aim, the shot both cops in the back of the head, one right after the other.

"You gonna shoot us too?" Faith stood up, Asa standing tensed next to her.

"No." Miller said casually, holstering his weapons. "Right now you're Kate's best hope."

"Weren't these your guys?" Asa asked, looking over the dead bodies.

"No, they're PK's, Pirandello Kruger, private security."

"What's going on, Miller?" Faith asked, following him as he walked across the room.

"Pope's murder, turns out there was a man on the inside."

"Ropeburn?" Faith half asked half stated.

"Yes. You were right about him. I tried to get answers myself."

"But why Kate?" Faith asked, following Millers meandering pattern across the room.

"Because they needed a CPF cop to look like Pope's killer. No time to explain more. Take this." Miller handed Faith an earpiece. "Head for the roof, that's where they've taken her. I'll hold them off." Miller drew both his pistols. "Go, now!"

Faith nodded, motioning for Asa to follow. She kicked open the door at the end of the room. Behind it was a large atrium, swarming with cops.

"Here we go again." Faith said, shoving Asa behind one of the many slanted metal pillars. Faith ran headlong at one of the cops directly in front of her, causing him to backpedal and fire wildly at her. At the last second, she threw herself across the ground in a slide tackle, slamming the man in the groin full force with her foot. The man leaned forward, grabbing his crotch, allowing Faith the perfect opportunity to knee him in the head on her way up. She yanked his machine pistol out of his hand, emptying half a magazine into one of his buddies. Faith continued this groin destroying, bullet spraying spree until all the cops had been taken care of. Asa watched from his cover in silent awe as this was happening. She truly was a killing machine. Asa suddenly started to wonder about about some of those jobs she got. Could they have been hits? No, Asa reasoned with himself, she's not like that.

"Come on!" Faith yelled, motioning him over, "Before more of them show up!" Asa tore across the atrium, toward the open elevator where Faith was waiting. More cops swarmed in just as the elevator doors slipped shut, bullets pinging off the doors as they closed.

"Holy fuck!" Asa yelled, "How many of those guys are there!"

"Not enough to stop us." Faith grinned.

"Yeah, well, I hope you're right..." The elevator suddenly jerked to a stop as a voice came over the speaker.

"Drop any weapons you have, stay were you are, and prepare to be taken into custody!"

"Don't these guys ever give up?" Asa sighed, hitting the emergency escape button, which opened up a panel in the roof of the car. Faith hopped up first, and Asa quickly followed. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." They were in the main elevator shaft, shared by at least three other elevators. Every now and again, one would come rushing past. "Now where are we supposed to go?"

"Hold on." Faith put a finger up to her earpiece. "Miller says there's an entrance to the ventilation shaft in here somewhere. It'll take us outside, and we can double around back in." The decent through the elevator shaft was truly harrowing. Once, while standing on a thin metal catwalk, an elevator passes so close to Asa that the pressure wave nearly sucked him off the catwalk. They finally made it through the elevator shaft, into the main ventilation chamber. Asa gulped when Faith crouched down near one of the many air ducts that shot off from the main chamber.

"Uh, are we going in there?" Asa pointed at the small, rectangular duct. It was barely high enough for him to crouch in.

"Yeah." Faith said, crouching down and moving into the air duct. She turned back when she noticed he wasn't following. "What's the problem?"

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Faith asked, getting a bit annoyed.

Asa shifted around a bit, "I'm claustrophobic..." Faith sighed loudly, closing her eyes. Now she remembered. Asa was very, very claustrophobic. She remembered once Merc locked him his tiny bathroom as a joke, and the poor kid had a panic attack.

"Listen, we've gone too far to turn back now. I know this is gonna be hard for you, but it's our only way forward. Now, come on." She took his hand, pulling him towards the air duct.

Asa swallowed hard, trying to fight of the rising tide of panicked fear. What if we get trapped in here? He kept thinking. We could die in here and no one would ever find us, no one would ever know. Asa swallowed hard, his throat starting to close up. Asa squeezed Faith's hand, which he had refused to let go of since he entered. Faith gave him a reassuring squeeze back, coming to a halt in front of him.

"This is it." Faith whispered, peering out of the grate in front of her. On the other side were two roof tops, and hopefully, a place to get back into the Shard. "Hold on a second!" Faith hissed when Asa started pushing her from behind. She knew he wanted to get out, but Jesus, they can't just go charging around the middle of the enemy stronghold!

"There's a sniper team guarding this area." Miller whispered in her ear. "But there should be a way in the other side. Be careful, Faith."

"Alright." Faith turned back to Asa, who was looking a bit pale. "There's snipers out there, so once we start running, don't stop." Asa nodded quickly. All he wanted was to get out of this metal tube, even if it meant facing a firing squad. "Alright...let's go!" Faith gave the grate a kick, sending it flying. Faith followed quickly after it, Asa hot on her heels. Only seconds after they emerged, the shooting started. Every shoot from the sniper's rifles sounded like a cannon going of. The high caliber bullets whooshed past them, putting holes clean through the massive A/C units that sat on the roof. These guy's aren't fucking around, Faith though, moving onto the second rooftop. Faith spotted one of the snipers, and headed right for him.

Asa watched as the man fired a wild shot at Faith, swinging the huge rifle like a club. Faith caught the rifle, ripping it from the man's hands, sending him to the ground and kicking him in the back of the head. Faith quickly brought the rifle to bear, aiming at one of the other snipers. "Cover your ears." She told Asa, who quickly followed her command. Faith took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.

The blast from the rifle shook Asa to his bones. He couldn't see how Faith stayed upright, much less aim at the other sniper and fire again. Even with his hands over them, his ears were ringing. Faith threw the rifle to the ground, taking off again. Just one more jump and they were back in the Shard. As she approached the final gap, more bullets started hissing through the air. More security troops had found their way onto the rooftops. Faith leaped onto the balcony on the other side of the gap, hearing Asa hit the ground not a moment after her. She charged through the door, charging down the blinding white hallway on the other side. She came to a stop at some kind of security desk. The only way to keep going was an elevator on her right, with no call button.

"Give me a moment, I'll bring the elevator to you." Miller said over her earpiece. Faith turned to Asa, looking him over.

"Are you alright?" She asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Asa waved her off, walking over the elevator as the doors slipped open. Faith followed him in, turning to face the elevator doors as they shut. Faith stared off into the distance. Miller had just informed her that this elevator lead to the server room, which housed the processing equipment used to monitor the entire city. If they could take even a few of those servers out, it might create enough of a distraction to let them slip out. Faith was so deep in though that she jumped when Asa tapped her on the shoulder.

"Faith," he breathed, "look." Faith turned around, and was struck by what she saw. The walls of the elevator were all glass, and beyond them was the most stunning panorama she'd ever seen. The city was laid out before them, dots and ribbons of lights stretched out in every direction. The horizon was glowing with the predawn light, and just visible in the distance were the hazy slops of the mountains. "It's beautiful." Asa whispered, his nose pressed against the glass.

Faith moved beside Asa, placing her hand on his head and ruffling his hair. "It is...and it's worth fighting for." Faith was suddenly struck by a thought. As close as they were to the top, this might well be one of the last things they see. Faith quickly pushed away that thought, putting her arm around Asa. They stood there, silent, as the elevator continued it's ascent. Faith grinned. There could be a lot worse last moments, she thought. The elevator began to slow, coming to a halt.

"Let's go." Faith turned as the doors slid open, revealing the massive server room. Faith shivered. The air was cool, almost cold here, to keep the electronics from overheating. The glass doors in front of them slid open, just as a pair of smoke grenades landed next to them. "Get down!" Faith yelled, leaping up and over the reception counter. The blues were giving one last ditch effort here. There five of them total, each one armed with either an assault rifle or machine gun. Faith took out the first one she came to, and used his rifle to pick off the other four. She discarded the rifle after the shooting stopped, picking up one of the guard's machine gun.

"What are you doing?" Asa asked, emerging from his cover and walking over to her.

"Cutting off the head of the snake." Faith grinned, pointing the machine gun at the nearest server hub and holding down the trigger. Sparks few wildly, and the mammoth machine started to smoke.

"Warning." A female voice came over the loudspeakers. "Core failure in bank one, core failure in bank one." Faith cackled wildly, putting holes in every single server hub.

"Warning." The voice spoke again, "All core banks have failed, all core banks have failed. Appropriate emergency services have been notified."

"Let's go!" Faith cried, tearing up the stairs toward the rooftop. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. Hold on, Kate! Faith though as she burst through the door onto the roof. She could hear the distinctive clatter of a helicopter on the helipad. She flew up the stairs, onto the platform. There was a helicopter, alright, along with Kate, and Jackknife.

"Hello, Faith." He said smugly, moving Kate in front of him and putting a gun to her head. It was at that moment that Faith realized that Asa hadn't followed her up onto the pad.

"Jackknife!" She hissed. Where did he go? "You couldn't-!"

"Attitudes like that," Jackknife chuckled, "well that's exactly why I could." He growled out the last few words. He started backing up towards the helicopter, dragging Kate with him. Faith followed him, not letting him get any further away.

"Who's behind this?" Faith demanded, keeping her eyes locked on Jackknife, but searching for Asa in her peripherals.

"Let's just say I know who the bigger fish are." Jackknife said in a smug tone.

"Callaghan." Faith said, the pieces starting to fall into place. Jackknife just grinned that smug grin. Faith suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Asa was sneaking up from the far side of the helipad. "Why us, we're no threat!" Faith took a few steps to the side, forcing Jackknife to turn with her. She could clearly see Asa now. He was sneaking close, with a pistol in his hands. Oh god, Faith thought, this will not end well.

"Classic warfare! Break the lines of communication, shoot the messengers!" Jackknife said in a matter of fact tone. "Without Pope, and without the runners, your clients, those who just won't let go of the old city, get cut off, vulnerable. And this city can clean up the last of it's dregs." Jackknife shoved Kate up against the helicopter, taking a step back and pointing the gun right at her.

"So this is just the start!" Faith kept her eyes on Jackknife, resisting the urge to flick them over to Asa for just a moment.

"I prefer to think of it, as an ending. But still, you did a remarkably good job coaxing out all those lose ends surrounding Pope's...demise. It's why you're still alive." Jackknife swung the gun at Faith.

Asa's entire body was shaking was he approached the three, pistol raised. He could have sworn his heart beat was audible over the chopper. His mind was racing at a million miles per hour. Should he call out to Jackknife, tell him to put the gun down? No, that would just result in a Mexican standoff. Oh, god he couldn't shoot this man, no matter what he had done, no matter what he was going to do. But he had to. Asa decided he would he would shoot him in the arm, injure him, but not kill him. Now he just had to wait for his moment. As the trio continued to back up toward the chopper, Asa edged closer. Jackknife shoved Kate into the chopper, and started to swing the gun towards Faith. That was his chance. Asa pulled the trigger, hard.

The bullet went high. It slammed into Jackknife's temple, breaking out the other side in a fountain of blood, brains and bone. The man fell, as if he were a marionette whose strings were suddenly cut. Asa watched in silent horror as he hit the ground, eyes wide open, but unseeing. The chopper pilot seemed to take that as his cue, and took off in a hurry. Asa slumped to his knees, eyes fixated on the body, and the crimson pool that forming. Blood. Oh, god there was so much blood. The gun dropped from his hand with a clatter. Faith ran over to him, kneeling down beside him.

"I killed him." Asa said, in a hollow voice, silent tears starting to run down his cheeks. "Faith, I killed him!"

"I know," She whispered, putting her hand on his back. "You did what you had to do." Asa didn't reply, just stared at the body until the shock suddenly wore off. He pitched forward, and vomited for all he was worth. All the emotions of the past few days came pouring out of him. All the anger, all the fear, all the sorrow, came pouring out, until there was nothing left. Faith knelt by him the whole time, petting his hair and whispering reassurances. Asa sat up once he was finished, wiping his mouth and giving her the most pitiful, heart breaking look. She wrapped him up an a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "for everything."

"Don't be." he said, leaning his head on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault." Faith held the embrace for a few more moments, before standing him up and turning to Kate. The two sisters embraced, before Faith turned back to Asa.

"Come on," She said, walking towards the stairs, "let's go home." Asa nodded, following the two. He took one last look back at the cityscape.

"Faith," he said, pointing "the sun's coming up."

"Yeah," she replied, feeling something stir in her chest, "it is."

Epilogue

Faith sat on a rooftop over looking the city cemetery. She had somehow managed to get Merc down, and buried. She heaved a sigh. She was gonna miss that ape, now more than ever. Their stunt in the Shard had a profound effect on the city. Information freely, people actually communicated without the fear of being listened to, for the first time in years. And it got something stirring. A Pandora's box had been opened. People, some for the first time ever, had tasted true freedom again. And they would want more. Faith grinned. It was only a matter of time.

"So, what now?" Asa asked from his perch next to her.

"I dunno." Faith shrugged. "There's as much instability as there ever was. We're going to be needed now more than ever."

Asa nodded, "They're still going to be looking for us, aren't they?" Faith sighed again. She'd been doing that a lot lately. "Yeah, they won't give up on us." The bounty on their heads was quite substantial. They'd have to be more careful than ever. Faith sent Kate to hide out with Drake, another mission controller for the runners. She would be safe there, for the time being.

"Don't worry!" Asa said, hopping down. "They won't catch us!"

"Oh, yeah?" Faith cocked an eyebrow, "How do you know?"

"Cause!" Asa grinned his stupid, infectious smile, "I just know."

Oh. My. God. It's finally done. To anyone still reading, I hope you enjoyed the ride. I feel I've grown a lot as a writer since I started this. I hope to be much more active now. Thanks again for those who stuck with this from the beginning. There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?


End file.
